That’s the bombastic headline of an article about a new study published in the American Journal of Human Genetics. The authors got DNA from 5 bodies in an archeological site in ancient Canaan thought to be about 3700 years old. The study concluded that the ancient Canaanites were genetically equivalent to today’s Lebanese. The “mind-boggling” results indicate that the ancient Canaanites were not wiped out as described in the Book of Joshua. The Bible lied!!!

Toward the end of the article, the reporter quotes the authors of the study. One said, “For the first time we have genetic evidence for substantial continuity in the region, from the Bronze Age Canaanite population through to the present day. These results agree with the continuity seen by archaeologists.” In other words, the “huge” study which “stunned” scientists simply confirmed what archeologists had long known. It was no surprise.

Archeologists have shown that a great deal of the Bible is fiction. The Bible Unearthed by Israel Finkelstein and Neil Silberman presents an excellent, though slightly dated account of this research. The Bible is not a history book, though some of it reflects real people and events. A good deal of it is political and religious propaganda presented as history.